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Detroit Tigers Team Notes Over 3 Million Views!!! Thankyou!

1. J.D. Martinez, OF, Tigers

He turned around his career with the help of a secret coach.
Martinez was hurt at the end of last season with Houston, giving him time to study his swing on video. He didn't like what he saw. Martinez hardly used his lower half, and his bat was in the strike zone for only a brief period, such was the extreme arc to his swing. He studied swings of other players that he wanted to copy, found one he particularly liked, and found out who that player used as a hitting guru. He called up the guru and asked if he would help him. The man said yes.
"He doesn't want his name out there," Martinez said of the secret coach.

Martinez went to the Venezuelan Winter League to try out his swing and mashed. But midway through spring training, citing a logjam of hitters, the Astros, the worst team in baseball last year, released Martinez. He was only 26 years old.

Tigers coach Dave Clark, who knew Martinez from Houston, heard about the release that morning and told manager Brad Ausmus he always liked Martinez and was worth a flier. Ausmus told general manager Dave Dombrowski to look into it. Two days later, Martinez was in Tigers camp ? minor league camp. They didn't even bother to bring him to the major league side.

"I didn't see him," Ausmus said. "But I heard about him when he was there. He hit three home runs one day. Honestly? We thought he might be a guy who could give us a power bat off the bench."

Martinez smashed 10 home runs in 17 games for Triple A Toledo. Detroit called him up. The power bat on the bench became a part-time outfielder who became the full-time leftfielder to provide protection behind Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez. He has hit 23 home runs and slugged .570, including 13 homers and a .648 slugging percentage in innings seven through nine.

Martinez still has his holes, like his 120 strikeouts with the Tigers. But he has such raw power and has hit so well late in games that he can turn around a postseason game or series with a swing at any time.
SportsIllustrated
 
October 1 in Tigers and mlb history:

1944 at Briggs Stadium: Last-place Washington beats Detroit 4-1, depriving the Tigers of a tie for the pennant with St. Louis.

1967 at Tiger Stadium: On the final day of the season, California defeats Detroit 8-5, in the second game of a doubleheader to dash the Tigers? hopes of tying Boston for the pennant.

1988 at Tiger Stadium: The Tigers hold their first Fan Appreciation Day.

2012: The champagne also flows in Kansas City, MO, where the Tigers defeat the Royals, 6 - 3, to clinch the AL Central title. Miguel Cabrera hits his 44th home run in the game. In deference to their star slugger, who is leading the AL in all three triple crown categories but who has had trouble with alcohol abuse in the past, the Tigers choose to celebrate with an alcohol-free bubbly.

Tigers players and coaches birthdays:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Hal_Naragon
Hal Naragon coach 1967-1969.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jon_Warden
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wardejo01.shtml?redir
Jon Warden 1968.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rayro02.shtml
Robbie Ray 2014.

from baseball reference
 
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/9/29/6862941/AL-playoff-teams-average-players
The forgotten contributors: AL.
from beyondtheboxscore

The Detroit Tigers:
Alex Avila, C. Avila is definitely a case of extremes. He's got a great walk rate (13.3%), but then you might see his strikeout rate, which is pretty terrible at 33%. Somehow, Avila managed to bring an almost league average bat (97 wRC+) to a position where it is difficult to find league average bats, despite his extreme strikeout rate. Avila does not appear to be a particularly good framer, but he does the other things well. His caught stealing rate regressed back to near his career average after a dip in 2013. FanGraphs thinks he was pretty good at blocking pitches. It looks like he did everything just well enough to make this list at 2.1 fWAR.
 
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